The present invention relates to apparatus for protecting the patient and medical personnel during a surgical procedure, and more particularly to devices and systems for the removal and disposal of smoke particles, vaporized tissue and other airborne debris and contaminants that arise during laser surgery and other surgeries.
The use of lasers in surgical procedures has gained wide acceptance, due to the high degree of accuracy with which laser energy can be applied to form incisions, cauterize incised vessels and otherwise treat tissue. While particularly well suited to eye surgery and other microsurgery, lasers have gained acceptance in areas well beyond microsurgery.
Widespread use has given rise to increased efforts to counteract a significant problem of laser surgery, namely the laser smoke or plume emitted at the surgical site during surgery. The laser-generated plume is known to contain hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and moisture. Laser smoke typically has an extremely unpleasant odor, and is sufficiently dense to interfere with the physician's view of the surgical site. At least one virus, Human Papillomavirus DNA, is known to survive a laser surgery procedure and may pose a health risk if it occupies the operating room environment. The HIV virus that can lead to AIDS also is a source of concern, although it is not yet known with certainty whether the HIV virus can survive a laser surgery procedure.
Operating rooms require a positive pressure in relation to adjacent spaces. This tends to maintain sterility within the operating room, by preventing airborne contaminants from entering the room. A further result of the positive pressure, however, is that contaminants and odors are likely to permeate the operating room and contaminate adjacent areas, if not captured at the surgical site.
Systems and apparatus have been developed in an effort to solve this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,026 (Paul) discloses a laser plume evacuation system with articulating arms that support disposal flexible tubing near the operating table. The articulating arms conduct exhaust from the tubing to a main located above the operating room ceiling. From the main, air is conducted to a centrifugal separator tank and then to a fan that produces the vacuum. Downstream of the fan is a high efficiency particle air (HEPA) filter. This system is expensive and requires considerable maintenance to reduce contamination throughout the system.
An alternative, more portable approach, is a laser smoke filtration system offered by Stackhouse Incorporated of El Segundo, Calif. This system, contained for the most part in a housing mounted on wheels, includes disposable vacuum tubing, a disposable canister filter for odor adsorption, internal filters and a means for returning diffused, filtered air to the operating room. However, the vacuum hose and pick-up shroud, much like the various upstream elements in the above-discussed exhaust system, are subject to contamination. Charcoal filters must be maintained or odors will be present in the exhaust returned to the operating room. The unit is expensive, although not so costly as the plume evacuation system described above.
Several patents describe hand-held laser surgery devices that incorporate a vacuum feature for laser smoke removal, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,916 (Reynolds et al) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,596 (Long et al). These patents contemplate reliance on a central vacuum system for filtering, as they do not feature any filtration means within the devices themselves. Further, these devices inherently involve drawing of the smoke plume directly toward the laser source, unduly interfering with the operator's view of the surgical site during the laser procedure.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for more safely and effectively removing the airborne product of a laser surgery, clear of the laser device to minimize interference along the line of sight of the physician or other operator.
Another object of the invention is to provide a vacuum system for drawing away the airborne product of laser surgery or other surgeries, in a manner that reduces or eliminates contamination of system components downstream of the wand or other intake housing at the surgical site.
A further object is to provide a wand or other intake housing usable at a laser surgery site, that incorporates a filtration feature and is adapted for coupling to a standard central vacuum, exhaust or other evacuation system.
Yet another object is to provide a low cost and reliable means for disposing of the smoke plume and the offensive odor generated during a laser surgery procedure.